1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stamping device that can execute printing with a rotating body on a surface to be stamped. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique to cover a stamp face of the rotating body while the stamping device is not in use.
2. Description of the Related Art
A roller stamp is conventionally known, for example as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577, that includes a rotating body to be rotated while being pressed against an object to be stamped such as a paper sheet, to thereby execute printing on the object to be stamped. The roller stamp includes a generally column-shaped or generally cylindrical rotating body with a stamp face provided on an outer circumferential surface thereof, and a housing that pivotally (rotatably) supports and accommodates therein the rotating body. One of the rotating body and the housing includes a bearing, and the other includes a shaft to be supported by the bearing. The operator of the roller stamp holds the housing, and rotates the rotating body while pressing it against the object to be stamped, thereby executing the printing thereon.
In the case of the conventional roller stamp thus configured, at least a part of the stamp face of the rotating body has to be exposed from the housing, in order to execute the printing on the object to be stamped. Accordingly, the housing includes an opening located opposite a retainer portion of the housing. The operator holds the retainer portion, and presses the stamp face of the rotating body, partially exposed through the opening, against the object to be stamped.
Here, the roller stamp is usually stored in a certain location while not in use. In the case where the stamp face remains exposed while the roller stamp is not in use, the storage location and an object located close to the roller stamp may become stained.
Accordingly, in the conventional roller stamp, a lid is provided at the opening of the housing. Actually, the roller stamp according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577 includes a lid mounted so as to rotate with respect to the housing. The lid rotates along above the stamp face of the rotating body. The lid can therefore be located, by a rotating action, either on the side of the opening of the housing, or on the side of the retainer portion opposite the opening.
When the lid is on the side of the retainer portion of the housing, the lid is interposed between the housing and the rotating body, and hence the opening of the housing becomes freely open, which allows the printing to be executed. In contrast, when the lid is on the side of the opening, the exposed stamp face of the rotating body is covered. An advantage of the roller stamp according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577 is that the lid can be prevented from being lost.
Because of such design that the lid is exposed while the roller stamp is not in use, the conventional roller stamp including the one according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577 has the following drawback. Although the roller stamp is stored with the lid set to cover the stamp face, in the case where an impact or a force from a specific direction is applied to the lid, the lid may be caused to open. For example, while the roller stamp is carried in a bag, an object located in contact with the lid of the roller stamp may move inside the bag, thereby accidentally opening the lid.
To solve the foregoing drawback, some of the conventional roller stamps are designed to prevent the lid from being accidentally opened. For example, in the roller stamp according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577 also, the lid includes a small projection (numeral 16 in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577) for prevention from being unduly opened. The projection enters into contact with a side edge of the opening of the housing when the lid covers the stamp face, to thereby prevent the lid from being opened.
However, the lid according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577 should be opened when the roller stamp is put to use, and hence should be easily opened by the operator, otherwise the usability of the roller stamp itself is degraded. On the other hand, in the case where the lid has such a structure that it can be easily opened, the lid becomes more prone to be accidentally opened. Thus the roller stamp according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90577 intrinsically has two contradictory drawbacks, and it is difficult to solve both of them.